Gillis has always stated that he wants a good young player who is playing now (Carlson) and a prospect/pick (Forsberg) for Lou. We give them Ballard to replace Carlson and a swapping of bad contracts between Brouwer and Ballard.

That would be the fleecing of all fleecing Dude. NO WAY IN HELL McPhee goes there. More likely is they go into a rebuild and unload Green and OV

From what I understand, Rebuild mode is not an option in Washington. That owner wants to win now. We can't be taking huge contracts back, so Green and Ovie are not an option for us, unless Gillis plans to use up his buyout option. From the sounds of it, Gillis does not want to go there.

Kuznetsov contract with his KHL team ends after this season, you know damn well he is coming to play in the NHL next year with Ovie. Why the hell would they be trading Ovie. Kuznetsov is the best prospect right now of all NHL teams. Most scouts consider him to be a better player than Tarasenko and Yakupov. With Kuznetsov waiting in the wings I see no reason why the likes of Forsberg, Wilson, Johansson and Carlson that untouchable. Carlson would be a tough one to snag. Not saying all of them, but parts of that 4 I could see being moveable.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate

Filip Forsberg would be the jewel I'd be angling for. I hear ya about Washington not going rebuild...it just seems to make the most sense from my perspective given they have a strong group coming up in a year or 2.

Gillis said with the Lou trade it's going to be a hockey deal, so we are going to get a player back for him in either a prospect(s) or an NHL player(s); it's not going to be a salary dump. I'm starting to think with Luo, we should seriously look at getting someone who is a little older and has some salary attached to him. With our window to win quickly closing and Kesler being a question mark, I think we should go for someone who can score now! We have a bunch of guys who can check already (higgins, lap-dawg, malhotra, hansen, etc), we need someone who can put the puck in the back on the net. I really do not think ebbett and shroeder will cut it long term. I think we should be willing to move any of our prospects too, for the right guy. Throw in Gaunce, Jensen, Tanev, Connaughton, Corrado, Lack and/or picks if we have to. Kind of like when New Jersey went out and got Almo from us to help them win a cup. A guy who is a proven scoring threat, who can kind of fly under the radar behind the Sedins and provide true secondary scoring. And please, a guy like Geoff Sanderson or Martin Ruckinsky does not cut it.

We all know that there's only a few teams out there that could really use Lou and that he would be willing to go to.

Toronto: Bozak? (I dunno, doesn't seem like a real scoring threat) What about Van Reimsdyk, Lupal or even Kessel? We'd probably have to sweeten to pot for Van Reimsdyk. Lupul might be fair, but he's been pretty inconsistent. Kessel? hmm... might be a good fit.

Washington: Laich? he's pretty good, not sure if he's much of a scorer though. Ribero on the other hand might be good, but he's a pending UFA

Tampa: Lecavalier or St. Louis? Not sure if tampa would realy move Lecavlier cuz he's their franchise, but St, Loius? He's a bit on the small side, but the guy has always scored, might have to seriously consider him.

Chicago: Hossa: hmm.. might fit the bill quite nicely actually.

Florida: Weiss or Versteeg? They both bring diff't things to the table, they might be good fits.

Edmonton: Gagner? (I dunno, still kind of young and unproven. Kind of small for my liking too). Hemsky might be a good fit, but is he on the decline? He seems to have nice skillz, but he never seems to put up big points. Also, not sure if Luo would really want to go there.

Well, that's just me thinking out loud. I just hope we get a guy who can provide some offense, not sure I really want prospects right now. Depends on the guy I guess.

I think the teams that want Luongo typically want him to improve their club on the ice right now.. opening up a hole in your top six or down the middle or on your defense for a decent-to-strong upgrade in net isn't usually the way to do that in season.

(The other issue is that acquiring a player with a $4m+ cap hit attached to them is going to create salary cap issues as soon as next year.. basically means that either that player or a current Canuck you are going to have to move to make room for him (David Booth probably, it's probably a foregone conclusion that Ballard is on the way out already) is pretty much just a rental.

Right now it looks like the team is going to have 10 roster spots to fill next season with $9m in cap space.. buy Ballard out (or dump him in a trade) and you're still looking at 11 roster spots with $13m. With that space you have to get a backup who can give you ~20 games, re-sign Schroeder and Tanev, find another every day NHL defenseman and essentially replace your whole bottom six forward group. )

I suspect we'll see Luongo move after the season when teams are a bit more flexible. I also suspect (and hope) that the return is going to be based around either young NHL players, or players who have achieved that AHL 'dominance' that the Canucks wanted to see from prospects like Hodgson, Kassian and Schroeder before graduating from the minors.. in other words players who could be expected to compete for a spot next year. These would be players like Gustav Nyquist, Nino Niederreiter, Drew Shore, etc (not to say that I think their respective clubs are the front runners necessarily - just that those are young players producing at a high level in that league).

Those kinds of players (along with whoever is already in the organization that may be ready.. Jensen? Corrado? Maybe Kevin Connauton?) are going to be what determines whether the Canucks continue to have adequate depth or not.. bringing in a guy like Brooks Laich or Kris Versteeg just accelerates the loss of depth. Of course if we're talking about Marian Hossa or Marty St. Louis, you find a way to make room for them.

I like what Brouwer brings to a Vancouver team that needs to toughen up come April. Obviously Forsberg is the key for Vancouver as it sets them up down the middle looking forward.

As far as Washington goes, they continue with the "win now" philosophy adding a top level goalie and a half decent speedster to work into their top 6. Brendan Gaunce would help alleviate the sting of losing a top centre prospect by adding one with his own attributes for the future.

I think this move is leaning towards Vancouver a bit so tweaking or adding (see replacing Raymond with Burrows for example) would likely be needed but if Washington doesn't right the ship soon they could become desperate for the spark that this trade would likely bring.

I like what Brouwer brings to a Vancouver team that needs to toughen up come April. Obviously Forsberg is the key for Vancouver as it sets them up down the middle looking forward.

As far as Washington goes, they continue with the "win now" philosophy adding a top level goalie and a half decent speedster to work into their top 6. Brendan Gaunce would help alleviate the sting of losing a top centre prospect by adding one with his own attributes for the future.

I think this move is leaning towards Vancouver a bit so tweaking or adding (see replacing Raymond with Burrows for example) would likely be needed but if Washington doesn't right the ship soon they could become desperate for the spark that this trade would likely bring.

The last thing you want to do is trading away Gaunce. As a matter of fact, the Canucks need more prospects like him.

Yeah, in my opinion the Canucks need to add a prospect or two to the organization - upgrading from Gaunce to Forsberg would be great but I think with Luongo you have to end up with more depth than you started with.

I've already said it in here but I would love to get Drew Shore and a 1st (and another young-ish depth player like Matthias if possible).

Shore gives you a second big center in your prospect pool and two first round picks in the upcoming draft means you can take a real big risk with one of those picks, or if you see a great young player fall out of the top five you can maybe move both of those picks to get a shot at them.

I like what Brouwer brings to a Vancouver team that needs to toughen up come April. Obviously Forsberg is the key for Vancouver as it sets them up down the middle looking forward.

As far as Washington goes, they continue with the "win now" philosophy adding a top level goalie and a half decent speedster to work into their top 6. Brendan Gaunce would help alleviate the sting of losing a top centre prospect by adding one with his own attributes for the future.

I think this move is leaning towards Vancouver a bit so tweaking or adding (see replacing Raymond with Burrows for example) would likely be needed but if Washington doesn't right the ship soon they could become desperate for the spark that this trade would likely bring.

The last thing you want to do is trading away Gaunce. As a matter of fact, the Canucks need more prospects like him.

Forsberg is looking like a future first line centre who could replace Henrik and maybe rack up 100 points a year. As good as Gaunce is looking there's really no comparison in talent. Don't get me wrong, I really like what Brendan brings but we lack high end offensive prospects like Filip Forsberg. Gaunce is looking like a 2/3rd line centre who plays physical and could maybe score 50 points in a career year. That doubling of points down the road is huge.

dbr wrote:Yeah, in my opinion the Canucks need to add a prospect or two to the organization - upgrading from Gaunce to Forsberg would be great but I think with Luongo you have to end up with more depth than you started with.

I've already said it in here but I would love to get Drew Shore and a 1st (and another young-ish depth player like Matthias if possible).

Shore gives you a second big center in your prospect pool and two first round picks in the upcoming draft means you can take a real big risk with one of those picks, or if you see a great young player fall out of the top five you can maybe move both of those picks to get a shot at them.

I'd say Tallon might have given up Shore but not the 1st rounder and this is maybe why there hasn't been a deal. Florida would be stupid to trade any young assets to bring in Luongo. They don't really fit as a team that needs a 34-35 yr old starter with 10 years left on the books. Neither does Toronto to be honest.

Jovocop wrote:The last thing you want to do is trading away Gaunce. As a matter of fact, the Canucks need more prospects like him.

Forsberg is looking like a future first line centre who could replace Henrik and maybe rack up 100 points a year. As good as Gaunce is looking there's really no comparison in talent. Don't get me wrong, I really like what Brendan brings but we lack high end offensive prospects like Filip Forsberg. Gaunce is looking like a 2/3rd line centre who plays physical and could maybe score 50 points in a career year. That doubling of points down the road is huge.

Just remember, most people projected Kesler to be nothing more than a checking center when he was drafted.

Gaunce is a natural center who has the size that none of our centers have. Don't get me wrong, a prospect like Forsberg is great. However, without a center to feed him the puck, I just can't see him racking up 100 points a year. My point is the Canucks should look to add more high end prospects without subtracting the already thin talent pool.

While Forsberg shows a lot of skill he hasn't played a game in the NHL. He is tall enough at 6'2" but he is only 185 lbs so he is pretty thin. He may never have the physical strength to maximize his skill. Look at Raymond, much the same type of player and while he is rounding into a threat he will never be a star. Yet when we drafted him, Edmonton GM Lowe said we had picked up a potential star. So potential doesn't necessarily mean he will make it. I think MG's stated aim of younger, bigger and faster is something we should bear in mind when looking at what he is searching for. Drew Shore in my opinion fits the bill a little bit better than Forsberg and if we can get Shawn Matthias as well you take the deal. Anything else would be pure gravy.

Forsberg plays centre and wing. I understand that Gaunce has some upside but there really shouldn't be much of a comparison between these 2 players, other than 1 is bigger. Filip Forsberg is an elite prospect whereas Gaunce is a good prospect.That said, it is always debatable how a prospect will mature and the potential of a 6'2" 215 lb 18 year old is an enticing possibility.